Verizon rolls out massive opt-out data collection scheme.

[OrangeSunshine]

 

Summary

Verizon has rolled out a massive data collection scheme called "Verizon Custom Experience." Its goal is to create a custom user profile for everyone on their service, and it does so by collecting information stored locally, such as call and text records, websites that are visited, and the apps on your phone and what you use them for. The service is opt-out rather than opt-in. However, one can opt-in to the higher tier of the program ("Custom Experience Plus") and have their location constantly monitored, as well as information about the private networks that you may use. They only notified customers in easy to miss emails or a single text message.

 

Quotes

Quote

"Verizon has sent an email to customers to let them know they’re getting opted in to its Custom Experience data collection scheme after reports came out about it being turned on by default for some users. If you (understandably) trashed the email without reading it, the TL;DR is that Verizon’s program collects data about your apps and web browsing activity to help “provide you more personalized experiences with Verizon.” But of course, Verizon says, you have a choice" -MSN

 

My thoughts

Just when my hatred of Verizon wanes to a dull ember, they do something completely inane, from a customer service perspective at least, that sparks ire. This program that they are marketing as a "service" is nothing but a thinly veiled attempt to track literally everything you do. The only thing that you get in return is an offer from Verizon for a service, such as Disney plus, from companies that work with them. 

 

Essentially, this looks like a move to get a slice of that sweet data selling pie. The fact that they are not just handing over the information gleaned to a third party implies they are trying to carve out their own niche in the market. One where they are the gatekeepers of data, much like Google or Facebook, that other companies have to work with to sell you ads or promote deals. This makes me way more uneasy than Facebook or Google's data collection because it is much harder to mitigate. Fortunately, it is still possible to opt-out. I urge everyone that remotely cares about privacy to do so.

 

Sources

• https://www.verizon.com/support/verizon-custom-experience-programs-faqs/
• https://www.wired.com/story/verizon-user-privacy-settings/
• https://www.inputmag.com/culture/verizon-customers-might-want-to-check-their-privacy-settings-asap
• https://www.howtogeek.com/772439/verizons-custom-experience-is-data-collection-in-disguise/
• https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/verizon-tries-to-defend-collecting-browsing-data-on-its-network/ar-AARVsJK

[Lightwreather]

Wasn't this done like a whole month ago? (Sorry OP)

[OrangeSunshine]

2 minutes ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

Wasn't this done like a whole month ago? (Sorry OP)

I believe it was done near the first of this month, however they did it quietly and only recently began notifying customers because of backlash. I literally just got notified via a email today. I didn't see any posts about it, so I decided to write one here as a PSA.

[AnonymousGuy]

Thanks @OP .  Far as I know I didn't get any notification about this and I already had all the privacy shit turned off.  (EDIT: well I guess I did get an email on the 16th "Welcome to the Custom Experience" which I didn't read because I get so much shit like that it sounded innocuous)

 

https://myvpostpay.verizon.com/ui/acct/secure/profile/privacypreferences/customexperience

 

I went to the deeper link to full block enrollment for all my lines:
 

https://myvpostpay.verizon.com/ui/acct/secure/manageprivacysettings

[OrangeSunshine]

24 minutes ago, AnonymousGuy said:

Thanks @OP .  Far as I know I didn't get any notification about this and I already had all the privacy shit turned off.  (EDIT: well I guess I did get an email on the 16th "Welcome to the Custom Experience" which I didn't read because I get so much shit like that it sounded innocuous)

Yep, I had the privacy settings of all 20ish of my family's lines set to be as private as possible. They were all enrolled anyway. I remedied that the second I got the stupid email today.

[RejZoR]

I hope this will blow up and they lose huge number of subscribers. And a massive lawsuit so no one tries this shit again.

[Quackers101]

I kind of hate "Custom Experience", its like a way to try and get around GDPR?

and how you most likely can't opt-out of many of these services without making the software or tools useless, like an always online part for offline games.

[OrangeSunshine]

17 minutes ago, Quackers101 said:

I kind of hate "Custom Experience", its like a way to try and get around GDPR?

and how you most likely can't opt-out of many of these services without making the software or tools useless, like an always online part for offline games.

As far as I can tell, It does not impact any services, just their ability to collect information from you.

[OrangeSunshine]

19 minutes ago, RejZoR said:

I hope this will blow up and they lose huge number of subscribers. And a massive lawsuit so no one tries this shit again.

I am seriously considering moving cellular providers. I don't have a whole lot of choices though.

[TetraSky]

They better be paying their users for this.

Oh who am I kidding, they will just increase their rates even though they are stealing all this information to resell to advertisers.

[pythonmegapixel]

Serious question.

 

How the hell can the network operator - all they do is transmit phone calls, text messages and (usually encrypted) internet data to and from the phone - access this data in the first place?

Call logs and text conversations they can obviously keep track of, but web history [unless using data, but I'd assume most people will be on WiFi a lot of the time] , the list of installed apps etc. is local to the device.

 

Do people seriously just buy their phone from Verizon, but not uninstall any of the preloaded super-handy software tools malware or revoke any of its permissions?

[OrangeSunshine]

3 minutes ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Do people seriously just buy their phone from Verizon, but not uninstall any of the preloaded super-handy software tools malware or revoke any of its permissions?

The Verizon spookiness runs deep my friend. A lot of their services can not be removed unless you are willing to root your phone, and most people are not willing or able to do that. 

[OrangeSunshine]

40 minutes ago, James Evens said:

Since a lot of people use carrier phones they could just integrate it deeply into Android on those devices.

This kind of nonsense makes me really hyped for the linux phones, despite their slow progression. 

[Derangel]

2 hours ago, pythonmegapixel said:

Serious question.

 

How the hell can the network operator - all they do is transmit phone calls, text messages and (usually encrypted) internet data to and from the phone - access this data in the first place?

Call logs and text conversations they can obviously keep track of, but web history [unless using data, but I'd assume most people will be on WiFi a lot of the time] , the list of installed apps etc. is local to the device.

 

Do people seriously just buy their phone from Verizon, but not uninstall any of the preloaded super-handy software tools malware or revoke any of its permissions?

Just like with standard internet, every single thing you transmit over cellular data can be tracked and analyzed. Being on wifi does not stop the phone from sending data over the cellular connection either. Keep an eye on your data usage when you phone is connected to wifi, it will still go up. Cell phones constantly "phone home" to nearest tower. Heck, even if you root your device and remove carrier software the phone is still going to connect to cell towers and transmit shit,

[Fasterthannothing]

5 hours ago, J-from-Nucleon said:

Wasn't this done like a whole month ago? (Sorry OP)

Yeah I turned it off a while ago

[leadeater]

10 hours ago, RejZoR said:

I hope this will blow up and they lose huge number of subscribers

The problem is go to who else. In a lot of places you have 1 good option, 1 meh option and if you are real lucky another terrible option. Unlike many, or most, other countries where you have an abundance of options (typically sharing the same infrastructure) many places in the US have 2 viable options with various package incentives which could make one significantly better than the other based on applicability of those package deals etc.

 

If you aren't able to roll a dice and go with any of the multiple options (greater than 3) with all being nearly equally as good then choice is a mere illusion and there isn't market competition..

[Mark Kaine]

On 12/28/2021 at 9:12 PM, Quackers101 said:

its like a way to try and get around GDPR?

why would Verizon care about gdpr? they do not operate in eu afaik.

[EphraimK]

And still, my dad refuses to switch to AT&T

[Zodiark1593]

On 12/28/2021 at 12:41 PM, OrangeSunshine said:

I am seriously considering moving cellular providers. I don't have a whole lot of choices though.

VPN maybe?

[Stahlmann]

Doesn't the US have any privacy concering laws that prohibit exactly this behavior? Making it opt-out instead of opt-in seems borderline legal to me.